About What The Tips?!?

You’ve been there. The meal was great. Then the bill arrives and there’s a “service fee,” a “kitchen appreciation charge,” and a tip screen starting at 30%. What the tips?!?

What The Tips is a community-powered guide to what actually happens at checkout. Real diners report tip prompts, surprise fees, default percentages, and whether the awkward tip moment happens before your food arrives or after — so you can walk in informed instead of ambushed.

We’re not anti-tipping. We’re anti-surprise. If a restaurant adds a 20% auto-gratuity, that’s fine — but you should know before you sit down, not after.

The more people report, the more useful this gets. Every checkout experience you share helps the next diner make a more confident decision.

How the stress score works

Not all tip moments are equal. Getting hit with a screen before your food even arrives hits different than signing a paper receipt after a great meal. Each restaurant gets a stress level based on three things diners report:

Tip timing — Being asked to tip before your food arrives (counter service) adds the most pressure. Being prompted after a full sit-down meal is the least stressful.

Prompt style — A fixed counter-facing screen (the kind you have to actively decline) is more pressure than a handheld terminal or a paper receipt you can fill out at your own pace.

Default tip amounts — 20% is pretty standard these days, so it doesn't move the needle much. Pre-selected defaults of 25% or higher are where the score climbs.

No stressNo tips, or a flat gratuity is already included — nothing to decide at checkout.

LowMinimal pressure — paper receipt or no preset amounts, low-key checkout.

AverageTypical checkout pressure — prompted after service with standard tip options.

HighHigh pressure — prompted before service with elevated defaults.

Scores only appear once enough people have reported. One person’s bad experience doesn’t make it gospel — we wait for the crowd to weigh in.